The tendency towards assimilation is very noticeable: Ascen sion in which c often yields to influence of s, apto in which p becomes a mere implosive under influence of t. In the case of learned words in modern speech, the pronunciation is a com promise between smoothness and an effort at correctness: acciOn (agejon).
Accent of intensity. This accent or stress is particularly im portant in Spanish and requires greater muscular tension in its production than is usual in English words, because the unstressed vowels are pronounced in Spanish with great care, as, though slightly weakened, they never lose their identity. In general the syllable which bore the accent in Latin retains it in Spanish.
In spoken Latin the noun was preceded by the demonstrative pronoun ille (ilium, illu) and the indefinite pro noun onus (una). From them derive the definite articles el, la, lo, plural los, las, and the indefinite articles uno, una.
The inflexions so characteristic of written Latin were never used to the same extent in the spoken langauge. In Span ish, there are strictly speaking no declensions though traces survive in a few cases such as that of the personal pronoun yo, me, mi; el, le; nosotros, nos. In spoken Latin the prepositions indicated cases, e.g., Plautus says hunc ad carnificem dabo. In modern Spanish the preposition de corresponds to the genitive, pars and a to the dative, a or the absence of preposition to the accusative, o to the vocative and con, en, por, sin, sobre, tras to the ablative. But the remains of the classical declensions are seen in the grouping of the noun, the form of which in the great majority of cases is traceable to that of the accusative case in singular or plural forms.
The nouns belonging to the Latin third declension appear in Spanish as words ending in e or in a consonant, the plural end ing in es: S. patre-> padre Pl. patres> padres S. leone-> leon Pl. leones> leones This group also absorbed words from other declensions, es pecially the fifth as the accusative endings were similar. The gender of nouns derived from the third declension is gener ally the same as in Latin, the neuter nouns being distributed between the two groups according to no settled rule, thus for instance the Latin sal which appears in French as masculine (le sel) is feminine in Spanish (la sal).
and Adverbs.—Adjectives follow the principles described in the development of the noun. The neuter has dis appeared (except in the abstract use of the adjective as a noun: lo usual es—it is the custom), and therefore the Latin three and two endings are reduced to two and one respectively: ingles (-a), triste. There is however a tendency to supply a feminine form as in Superiora (Mother Superior), noticeable also in adjectives ending in on, ol; e.g., the Spanish-speaking Jews of the Balkan peninsula still say la lengua espafiol instead of the modern feminine espafiola; on the other hand the same Jews have added feminine endings to ilustre ilustra and joven, jovena (a young girl) while Peninsular Spanish preserves the old usage in one ending. Comparison: The classical comparative
and superlative are rare in Spanish (bueno, mejor, 6ptimo) and are expressed by the use of the adverb magis> mks in the case of the comparative and by the comparative preceded by the article to render the superlative: tonto, mks tonto, el (la, lo) mks tonto. The superlative in -issimus>-isimo is a latinism which was felt to be un-Spanish by the old writers like King Alfonso X (d. 1284), and, although accepted to-day, it has a pedantic and rhetorical flavour.
Regular adverbial usage differs from the Latin: (a) The adverb is normally formed by the substantive mente appended to the feminine form of the adjective: tonto, tonta, tontamente. (b) A great number of Latin adverbs were, however, preserved: adhoc >aun, quando> cuan do, magis> ma's, sic> si; also combinations of prepositions and adverbs: de-intro> dentro, intuncce> en tonces, de-ex-post> despues, etc.
The Pronouns include Personal Pronouns (Nomi native: yo, tu, el, ells; Plur. nosotros, vosotros, ellos; Dative: le, lo, les, los; Accusative: me, te, se, nos, os; Emphatic forms used after prepositions: el, mi, ti; Note conmigo, contigo, con sigo) with the closely connected Possessive or Adjective Pro nouns (mi, tu, su; mio, tuyo, suyo) ; the Demonstrative Pro nouns (este, ese, aquel) amongst which, historically speaking, should be classed the third person of the Personal Pronouns and the article, and finally the almost identical relatives and inter rogatives (que, quien, el cual; e:que? e:quien? cual?).
The cardinal numerals are: uno (-a), dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez; veinte (20), treinta
cuarenta (40), cincuenta (50), sesenta (6o), setenta
ochenta (8o), noventa (9o), cien, ciento, (ioo), doscientos (200), quinientos (500) setecientos (700), novecientos (900), mil (I,000). The ordinals are primero (a), segundo (a), ter cero (a), cuarto (a), quinto (a), sexto (a), septimo (a), octavo (a), noveno (a), decimo (a). The ordinals are learned in form and are not used in ordinary conversation beyond ten.
Verbs.—In Spanish the four Latin conjugations are reduced to three, the infinitive endings being ar, er, ir, that is to say that the second and third conjugations in ere, ere have been amal gamated. The only traces of original differences are seen in the strong preterites and past participles of irregular verbs. The Present Indicative and Subjunctive of regular verbs are very close to the Latin originals: Pres. Ind. canto, cantas, cants, cantamos, cantais, cantan Subj. cante, cantes, cante, cantemos, canteis, canten
Pres. Ind. temo, temes, teme, tememos, temeis, temen Subj. tema, temas, tema, temamos, temais, teman
Pres. Ind. parto, partes, parte, partimos, partis, parten Subj. parta, partas, parta, partamos, partais, partan